Snakes Heart
by Richie93
Summary: Following the events of Shadow Moses, Snake hopes to leave his old life filled with war and conflict behind with the woman he loves on his side. The months that follow finds Snake dipping into his old habits and clearly is unable to fill the void that his previous life was able to give him. Unable to stay away, he finds himself back around the rush of the life he has always known.


After all the lies during the Shadow Moses incident, snake simply couldn't trust anyone again. No one really heard from him much apart from Meryl, whom he shared his home with in Alaska before fleeing to an unknown address somewhere close to the Alaskan border. Snakes mind was never the same, he began to question everything. He shut himself away for months, sleeping in, drinking, depression soon followed, so much that Meryl, striving for a career in the special forces, gathered her things and left.

On a Sunday morning, she quietly wakes up, begins packing everything she owns while holding back her tears. She takes a final look at snake, awaiting his hangover. Staring at him, closing her eyes and reliving the moment he picked her up on the top of metal gear rex. Such memories, turning into ancient history, history that will now only be a distraction upon her journey to what she dreamed of as a child.

Snake was no longer a part of that dream.

Snake woke up that morning, alone, hungover, to see his bedroom half empty. The drawers were all open, cloths scattered everywhere. It was done as if she was in a hurry. Without a second thought he gets up, walks down the cold wooden steps of his house to the kitchen and pours himself a whiskey.

He can still see the tire tracks left in the snow to when Meryl drove out the gate for the last time. The sense of isolation was strangely an uplifting feeling, even though the woman he loved just walked out of his life.

He got dressed, walked outside to his dogs for their morning feed. From the outside looking in, it seemed as if nothing had happened. Just the same quiet man whose heart was torn in two. Meryl was someone snake saw as a woman he could open up too. She was different in his eyes. Uncorrupted, pure, and beautiful upon imaginable.

He strapped up his dogs and slayed across the open fields surrounding his house. He looks up at the morning sky, reminding him of the first time he opened up to anyone else. He along with Meryl, escaped from Shadow Moses on a snowmobile. The sky that morning was never more beautiful. Snake born for the sole purpose of fighting, felt blessed to witness so much beauty all at once that morning. Meryl was the only person who could take him away from his cursed genes and give him another purpose to live.

Coming up to a slope in the hill, the dogs become unbalanced and forces the sled off track and ends up on its side. Snake jumps off and lands head first in the snow. Lying on his back unharmed, he can't bring himself to get onto his feet. He just lays there, staring at the sky. Tears start to form. It only hits him now what just happened. The dogs begin to circle him in a playful manner. By licking his face and pulling at his jacket, snake gets onto his feet. A regretful sigh, he re-straps the dogs and heads back to the house.

Months go by without any contact. By now his drinking is worse than ever. With such a bad taste left in his mouth from his days in battle, snake still can't deny the fact that fighting was the only thing he was truly good at, the only thing that made him feel alive. Before Shadow Moses, he attempted the straight life. After that he tried it again, only this time with a woman he loved.

Not able to switch off his addiction to battle, snake going against his will, signs up to help train the Alaskan scouts. It was a Tuesday afternoon, he packs a bag, gets in his off-road jeep and drives 60 miles south.

During his foxhounds' days, paths were crossed with a lot of retired vets. So many of them moved to Alaska once they retired. Snake drove 60 miles to a well-known known training facility for the Alaskan troops. He pulled his jeep up outside and could already hear the gunshots from the drills. It was an immediate rush for him. He knew he couldn't stay away, he knew he was born to fight, and he knew still needed to make a difference. So many thoughts going through his head already and all he planned was to show some greenhorns how to hold a rifle.

The place was small for a training facility. It was right in the middle of a large open field. The sense of isolation made him feel at ease. Snake was a known hero after Shadow Moses, especially around Alaska. He stepped foot in the door and the place went silent. Everyone, wide eyed staring a living legend. After a moment they carried on, trying not to look obvious. Snake slowly walked to the front desk. In his quiet, raspy voice " _You need any volunteers?"_

Snakes new found role made him more content with his now, semi-retired life. Months would pass, and he barely noticed the time. He was getting more invested in the young troops progress and it really filled the void that was missing within himself. Apart from the whispers and stares, particularly when new members arrived, snake was as close to being happy as he was the day he arrived back from Shadow Moses.

A freezing morning in February, right after target practise, snakes get a message from the young kid working at the front desk.

 _" Hey Kid, Captain told me you had a message for me? "_

The young man looks up at Snake _. " Y... Ye..Yes… Sir"_

Snakes continues to look upon the boy. _" Well?"_

 _"A man was here, to meet you meet sir."_

 _" What man?"_

 _"I…I_ _didn't_ _catch his name sir."_ The boy hands snake a small piece of paper with an address he wrote down.

 _"This man, what did he look like?" Snake said_ _suspiciously_ _while looking at the address._

 _" He was kind of small Sir, geeky looking with glasses. He said to meet him here around noon today."_

 _"Hmm?"_ Thanks Kid."

Snakes walks out the front door, stands in the open, looking at the snowfields as far as the eye can see. He slowly lights up a cigarette while looking at the address the boy wrote down. He waits a few minutes before getting in his jeep and drives off into the endless white.

The address brought him an hour from the facility. From a distance it appeared to be a small, bungalow house but turned out to be an old style, family diner in the middle of nowhere. He pulls up outside, parks up and waits a moment, lighting another cigarette. Without finishing, he steps out of the jeep and walks to the door.

Snakes slowly walks into the diner, looks around and notices a man sitting in the far booth at the back of the diner. A waitress hands snake a menu,

 _" Some coffee Hun?"_

 _" Please."_

Snakes approaches the man in the booth. Immediately he recognizes him. A slight smirk appears before sitting down, _" Otacon."_

 _"We have to talk."_

 _" About what?"_

 _"…_ _Philanthropy_ _."_


End file.
